NBA: Despite career-outing from Steph Curry, Knicks beat Warriors

Mark Jackson's return to the Big Apple was spoiled by his former team, the New York Knicks, despite the best efforts of Stephen Curry.

Curry exploded for 54 points, including 11 triples, but the Golden State Warriors couldn't overcome their early deficit to the Knicks, losing 109-105, Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time) at  Madison Square Garden in New York.

The Knicks improved to 34-20, while the Warriors dropped to 33-25.

Jackson, now coaching the Warriors, had been drafted by the Knicks and played six seasons with the team. However, his Golden State Squad was short-handed entering MSG, following the one-game suspension of big man David Lee, for his role in a brawl the previous day against the Indiana Pacers. Center Andrew Bogut was also not with the team, rehabbing in San Francisco.

[Related: Indiana's Hibbert, Golden State's Lee suspended one game each for altercation]

The lack of a big man was evident early on, as the Knicks beat up the Warriors down low. The home team got a 16-4 edge in points in the paint, and Tyson Chandler gobbled up 13 rebounds in just 10 minutes of play, good for a 27-18 lead after one quarter.

A triple by JR Smith opened the second, to put New York up by 12, but back-to-back-to-back treys by Stephen Curry and Richard Jefferson have Golden State a three-point lead, 40-37, 5:14 left. They couldn't hang on to it though, as Carmelo Anthony, Raymond Felton, and Iman Shumpert put the Knicks up by nine, 54-45, though two scores by Jarret Jack pulled them to within three at the break.



The second half was when Curry truly caught fire. On the back of a 7-for-7 clip from downtown, the sharpshooting point guard for the Warriors gave his side the lead thrice in the fourth period, the last coming with 3:42 left in the game, 103-102.

Shumpert tried to get the triple back on the other end of the court, but missed, only for Curry to issue a bad pass. A second-chance triple, this time by Carmelo Anthony, put the Knicks back on top anew, but Curry was there to equalize with two charities, 105-all, 2:05 on the clock.

Two more Warriors turnovers led to two scores by the Knicks, giving them a four-point advantage with 45.6 seconds to go. Golden State caught a break though, after Felton missed two free throws and Anthony flubbed the put-back, but Klay Thompson misfired on two triples that would have made the home stretch tighter, allowing the Knicks to win this one.

Curry shot 18-of-28 from the field, 11-of-13 from downtown, en route to his career-best 54 points. He also had six rebounds, seven assists and three steals, and played the entire game.

Carl Landry added 15 points, while Jarret Jack chimed in with 14, both players coming off the bench, as the other four starters combined for a mere 13 points.

Overshadowed by Curry's scoring flurry was the fact that Tyson Chandler finished with 16 points and 28 rebounds. Carmelo Anthony also dropped 35 markers, thanks in part to a 13-of-15 clip from the foul line. He also dished out eight assists.

JR Smith also came off the bench for 26 points.

Rebounding killed the Warriors as the Knicks got a whopping 27-2 advantage in second-chance points. - AMD, GMA News